“Was there a time when civil rights protesters could be attacked by a
club-wielding mob while police officers stood by? When the president of the
United States had to mobilize 30,000 federal troops to put down an armed
insurrection prompted by the enrollment of a single black man at a state
university? There was…

Here’s a story about the integration and evolution of college basketball,
set against the backdrop of the civil rights movement, one of the most
convulsive periods of our nation’s history… My aim here is to persuade you
that a pivotal moment in that transition was the improbable championship of
the Loyola Ramblers, a black-and-white team that opened a lot of eyes and
stirred a lot of hearts.”
—Excerpted from Introduction (pages 14-15)

Founded by Jesuit priests in 1870, Loyola Chicago is a prestigious,
Catholic college located on the Windy City’s west side. Between its academic
orientation and modest student size, the institution is not one would
normally associate with athletics.

However, in 1963, the school garnered some unexpected headlines when its
men’s basketball team, the Ramblers, earned a berth in the Final Four of the
NCAA tournament alongside perennial powerhouses Duke, Oregon State and
Cincinnati. Not content just to make it to the big dance, upstart Loyola
went on to defeat the two-time defending champion, Cincinnati.

En route to the title game, the Ramblers also beat Mississippi State, an
all-white team that had never faced any African-American opponents before
because of a strict school policy forbidding competing against any
African-Americans. So, giving Mississippi State a butt-kicking in front of
their racist fans during the Sweet Sixteen round was likely fulfilling
enough for Loyola.

Note that just before the season had started, James Meredith had made
history as the first black student ever to enroll at Ole Miss. That
triggered an armed white insurrection which was only quelled after President
Kennedy sent down thousands of federal troops.

Meredith went on to graduate but was shot in the head a few years later
while leading a voter registration march in rural Mississippi. Fortunately,
he would recover from his wounds and eventually earn a law degree from
Columbia University.

The civil rights movement is indirectly the focus of Ramblers, a fascinating
opus about an integrated team of talented and dignified young men who not
only ascended to the top of their sport but simultaneously helped change the
color of college basketball once and for all. The book recounts in riveting
detail how the Loyola players maintained their composure despite being spat
on, cursed at and showered with garbage during NCAA Tournament contests
hosted across the South including the Final Four on the floor of the
ironically-named Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky.

Written by veteran journalist Michael Lenehan, an award-winning editor at
the Atlantic and the Chicago Reader, Ramblers is a worthwhile read
chronicling a memorable upset and, perhaps more importantly, a triumph of
character over cowardice that had repercussions way beyond the basketball
court.